Resident Evil Survivalism
by Rain2009
Summary: Two teens meet up with Clarie Redfieald's convoy, and they are accepted into it, but how will they cope with there new world? Baised after RE:E Kmart/Own character
1. Prologue and Chapter 1

**Resident Evil:**

**Survivalism**

**Disclaimer:** So I don't work for capcom, I don't own any of these characters mentioned excepts for Karthak and Rain (No, its not the Rain from the movies, she's only biased after her attitude;) )

**Author note:** This is really just to introduce the main character. Trust me the next chapter will be SOOO much better….

**Prologue**

The rain pattered on the young girl's hair, as she jogged down the road which leads away from Jerome. Her eyes darted from left to right, searching for any sign of the ever lurking danger. She lived in Cottonwood Arizona, and had met some friends at the park, when the attack happened. There had been rumors of cannibalistic people going around, mauling and dismembering there victims while eating them, and once they were finished, they became zombies, and she had finally witnessed it first hand.

She had been switching between a run and a jog for nearly a half an hour, and was nearly to old town when she noticed a nice blue dodge ram pickup truck in the ditch along side the road. She wasn't exactly the "innocent" fourteen year old, she had been behind the wheel on a daily basis, and hot wired her fair share of cars.

She cautiously approached the truck, and peered inside, only to find that it was empty. She looked hopefully in the cab for keys in the ignition, only to have disappointment, but none the less, she popped the hood, and began to hotwire the truck the way her older brother had taught her using a screwdriver and messing around with the starter. Eventually, it grumbled to life and she slammed the hood before climbing into the cab of the truck.

She flipped down the visor to check herself in the mirror, when something and heavy landed in her lap. She gingerly looked down, only to find that a set of keys with one for the truck had fallen into her lap.

"Well, that would have been much easier." She placed the keys into the ignition, and drove out of the ditch towards her home.

The drive wasn't much longer than a half an hour. She was a runaway, and hoped that her parents weren't home, so she could grab some stuff before leaving.

The driveway didn't have any cars in it, but just to be on the safe side, she parked in the driveway next door, before sneaking into her bedroom window.

She hurriedly grabbed some clothes, and went into the kitchen, and shoved nearly all the food and drinks they had into a separate duffel bag. Before going to the photo album and grabbing a few of her favorite pictures. She then walked over to her phone, and picked up the receiver before dialing her best friends number.

"Karthak? It's me, Rain. Listen I think its time to put our zombie plan into action. Meet me at the spot, and I'll tell you the rest."

With that, she hung up, and walked toward the door. With a sigh, she took one last good look at her childhood home before walking out the door for the last time.

**Chapter 1**

**Bloodwork**

It had been three years since that day, and the memory of it was still as fresh as the sand that seeped through Rain's fingers. She leaned against the same pickup truck that had served them so well, while Karthak was busy striking up the fire that was to keep them warm during the chilly night until they went to bed. The gentle wind toyed with her blood red hair softly as she looked out over the desert wasteland. The evening glow of dusk painted a perfect picture across the landscape that reflected the sky above.

"You okay?" he asked, taking a seat beside her.

"Yeah, just thinking." She said as she tossed a small pebble into the now roaring flames.

"About you family?" he asked bluntly, making her head snap his direction. "I can always tell, because you get this distant, almost longing look in your eyes every time you think of them. Come on Rain, if you didn't expect me to notice something like _that_ after seven years of being next to you in the cab of a pickup truck, you've got bigger issues than I imagined."

She hit him playfully on the arm, as the two burst into fits of chuckles. When they settled down Rain said quietly. "I just wonder sometimes what happened to them that's all. If they made it out of Cottonwood alive like we did or if…" She paused, swallowing hard.

Karthak placed a gentle hand around her shoulder. "Listen to me. You can't dwell on the past if you plan to survive this. I know it gets harder every day, but neither of us can survive without the other, you and I both _know_ that to be a fact." She looked into his icy blue eyes, as he returned it in her green. "Rain, you know I grew up an orphan, and then you came into my life, and showed me what it was like to have a true friend. I promise you that as long as I live and breathe, no harm will come to you. Hell, we even made a zombie plan together, so I'm kinda stuck with you."

That earned him another punch, as the two chuckled. Then Karthak held out his fist. "Woot?"

"Woot." She pounded it, in there secret oath to there friendship. "I'm hungry." She then got to her feet, and began to search under the backseat for some food.

The entire cab was basically there living space. The back seat was folded into a bed when they were parked for the night, and was accommodated with the simple accessories of three blankets, and two big, fluffy pillows each. Underneath, Karthak managed to rig it so that there was a basket for all there duffel bags that healed there food, first aid and clothing. The front seat was a bench seat that was rather comfy, if neither felt like sharing the back seat. The bed of the truck was strictly for gas, the tool box, water jugs, camping gear the solar generator and a few lights.

Rain managed to pull out two bags of Jalapeño Cheddar Cheetos, and tossed one to Karthak before nuzzling down beside the fire.

As she munched on one of the Cheetos Karthak murmured quietly into her ear. "Happy Birthday, Rain."

She jumped, then began to cough and nearly spilled her food, which was like gold these days. "What did you say?"

Karthak looked confused. "Happy Birthday, Rain?"

"Karth, my Birthday isn't for another couple of months."

"No, I've been keeping track of the years. You turn seventeen today."

"How the _fuck,_ do you do that?" She asked her brows crinkled.

"I know when the leap years are and such. It's December 11th 2007." He proudly declared.

"Sure as hell doesn't feel like it." Rain muttered. "I can't believe its been three years already. It feels much longer."

"Well, at least we've still got each other."

The rest of the night went by slowly as they kept guard for the undead. Finally, about three hours after dark, the two crawled into the pickup and fell asleep with the doors locked, and everything prepared for a quick getaway as always.

Rain opened the window of the truck, took aim with her sniper rifle and fired catching one of the zombies near a man with a jump suit in the head. The man looked up to see where the cover fire was coming from and realized it was her, then with a happy wave, he turned and ran off.

Suddenly her arm was grabbed by a cold hand. "Huh?" She looked down and Karth was pulling himself up from the bed. "Karth you should be...!" She saw his eyes. Her heart and stomach seemed to drop to the floor.

He was one of them.

_UGHHHH..._

His hot breath washed over Rain's face, which was odd because he didn't seem to be _breathing_, as he pulled her to the floor. Rain fell on her back, but put both of her hands on his chest to push him away. His power hadn't waned one bit since he turned and he was getting closer.

She cried out as Karthak inched closer and closer to her. His drool pelting off her exposed neck that he wanted to feast on. His cold wet lips touched her neck, twitching at the taste of flesh. Tears rushed from her eyes, down her face as she screamed for her life, and the loss of her only friend.

BAM!

Rain shot straight up in the bed, grabbing the pistol she kept under her pillow, she took a deadly aim at the window directly in front of her. There snarling, and biting at the window was one of the undead that haunted her to this very day. The pickup suddenly roared to life, as she looked to the driver seat to see Karthak at the wheel.

"Hang on!" He shouted as the truck leaped to life, and began speeding away into the starry night, running carelessly over corpses, then entire time chanting "Shit! Fuck, fuck, fuckity!"

The truck sped on over the sandy road, some where in southern Iowa, heading straight, no particular destination in mind and sure as hell not planning to stop for quite a while. The trip was bumpy, and rather uncomfortable, but both had been through worse.

Much worse.

Rain reached behind her, and draped a warm blanket over her shoulders. Neither spoke, as the noise of the engine filled the cab. Rain was afraid to speak, as she looked over at the tall, dark haired boy in the seat next to her. He was her best friend, brother, partner and defender. They walked in the shadows of hell together, and she only wanted to survive if he was next to her, and that dream had made that point all too clear.

"I think we've lost em for a while." He said yanking Rain out of her thoughts as he looked in his side mirror. She could only nod.

It wasn't uncommon for her to have nightmares, and she hadn't had a full nights rest in only god knows how long. '_That was probably when I was 12 or 13._' She thought to herself.

Karthak met her gaze, and wrapped his arm around her, and she curled up next to the crook of his side. "You okay kiddo?"

Once again, she could only nod. "It was just another dream."

He nodded, knowingly. Every time she had a dream, it was always about him joining the cult of the undead. He never pushed for the details, unless it was a new dream, which didn't happen very often, but he always had that magical way of calming her down, and bringing her back to reality.

"I think you'd better let me have that back." He said, taking the magnum from her hand. She smiled, at the fact that she hadn't even realized she still held it. Karthak gingery placed it on the dash, as they passed an old speed limit sign.

Curious, Rain looked over to see that they were going so far past the limit they would have had there license suspended even though neither had it, and it was considered reckless driving when your going nearly fifty over.

But that was before the world was over run by a real life 28 Days Later.

"So, how did you get up here so fast?"

"I woke up when you began tossing and turning, that's when I noticed a Zombie really close to the truck so I hopped up here, and that's when you went all 00Zombie on them."

She laughed, then stiffed a yawn. "Get some rest. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" She asked, through another yawn.

"Yeah, just sleep." With that said, she crawled into the back seat, were she fell asleep to the sound of the engine going down the road.


	2. Chapter 2 Your worst enemy may be your b

**Disclaimer:** So I don't work for capcom, I don't own any of these characters mentioned excepts for Karthak and Rain (No, its not the Rain from the movies, she's only biased after her attitude;) )

**Author note:** This is really just to introduce the main character. Trust me the next chapter will be SOOO much better….

**Chapter 2**

**Your worst enemy, may be your best friend**

The truck suddenly screeched to a stop, making Rain fall forward from the force.

"What the fuck, why did we stop!?" Rain asked, her normal, uncaring expression plastered to her face.

"Needed to take a piss." Karthak replied. "Besides, take a look at what's in front of us." Rain pulled herself up from the floor, the morning sun momentarily blinding her. She could make out an army green 8x8 Cargo Carrier; sun yellow H2 Hummer, a Paramedic Ambulance that had R.C. on the side, KT - 3 News Van, an Enco Fuel Tanker, and a faded blinding yellow School bus.

"Wow." Was all she could say, it wasn't like that was the first convoy they ever saw. They had been apart of many, but most of which were small, and were overrun within weeks. They caught a glimpse of fire pits, with _both_ adults and children around them.

"Well, what do we do boss?" Karthak asked a hand on the handle.

She shrugged, observing the activity. "None of them seem to be infected, let's go check it out."

"Alright, but first lemme go to the bathroom. I've got to piss like Seabiscut." Karthak stepped out, and walked around to the back of the truck.

Neither of them bothered with modesty anymore, hell nobody did when you've got the undead on you every five minuets, but this was a new environment with strange new adults and kids alike around, and you could never bee too careful.

Rain pushed herself up onto the seat and maneuvered her body over to the open door. Before she slid down from the opening, Rain reached over and grabbed her 9mm Automatic, just as a precaution, tucking it away safely inside one of the pockets of her cargo pants. Upon hearing a zip, she began to walk towards the convoy.

As the two approached, the camp went silent. Apparently someone took notice of the commotion, because a man of what appeared to be an Arabian stepped around the back of the vehicle, revealing himself to the two.

He was clad in a tan tee-shirt, vest, matching cargo pants, a pair of black elbow pads and tipples gloves.

"I take it you two are survivors?" He stated friendly, his voice stunned Rain, for it sounded 100 American, betraying no trace of his true possible origin.

"Wanderers," Karthak said simply. "Scavengers; whatever you think we are. We keep to the roads during the day, and find safe areas to camp during the night."

A redhead woman wearing green cargo pants, a green ball cap, brown suspenders and a faded white tee-shirt with a pair of sunglasses hanging from the front walked up. "Ah, sounds like us."

"And every last human on the planet." The man chuckled.

"Listen, the only way any of us are going to survive is if stick together. So you got room for two more?" Rain asked, cutting to the chase.

The man and woman exchanged glances, and he spoke to her. "It's your call."

The woman nodded to them. "Either of you two been bitten?"

"No. You can check us if you like." Karth replied.

"You can join, but if there's any funny business, you're gone, got it?"

Rain had only one thing to say. "There won't be any trouble, just so long as we can keep our truck."

"Deal."

"Welcome aboard. I'm Carlos, and this is Claire." The man said.

"Karthak and Rain."

"Well, let me introduce you to the team." Carlos walked around the back of the 8x8 Cargo Carrier, the newest members following him. They approached the school bus where a guy was hunched over, apparently telling the Arthurian legend to a couple of youngsters. "Otto, I've got some one for you to meet." The man turned around. He was rugged looking, and had stubble, but it looked as though all the guys might have. He had friendly blue eyes, and a smile to match. "This is Rain and Karthak, guy's this is Otto Zemkowski."

"Hello, nice to meet you." he held out a hand that was leather gloved the same as Carlos and Claries were, and Rain took it.

Carlos then lead the two over to the Enco tanker, which had a cowboy looking character on top of it measuring the fuel inside. "This is Chase Montgomery. Chase, meet our newest members, Rain and Karthak."

"Howdy." Was all he said with a quick glance up, as he continued with is work.

A black man walked up to Carlos just then. "Yo, Carlos, who's the new kids?"

"L.J this is Rain and Karthak."

"L.J hu? What does that stand for?" Karth asked cocking an eye brow.

He offered Karthak his hand. "Lloyd Jefferson Wayne. Everyone call's me L.J, on account of the informal situation."

"Common you two, we've got to get you to Betty. It's nothing personal, just standard procedure." The two nodded, Rain would have called them crazy if they weren't cautious.

L.J pounded on the mesh that covered the window. Rain had taken notice of that. '_Must help with the zombies_.' She thought to herself, just as the door opened revealing a woman a bit lighter than L.J. "I see you've brought me some new recruits."

Rain smiled, she was pretty hot, she could tell Karthak thought so too. "Claire wants them checked out, and then we're hitting the road."

She nodded to the two of them. "Do they have a vehicle?"

"Yeah, Mikey's putting the mesh on it as we speak."

"Alright, I'll send them over when I'm done." Then she spoke to the two. "By the way, I'm Betty."

She lead them inside, it was surprisingly big, full of medical supplies. It was a combination of faded colors of chrome and white. "So, uh, you can either stay in here, or wait in the cab, its up to her though." She said, addressing Karthak.

Rain nodded to him, a code that told him to stay. One thing being on the road taught you was that your best friend may be your worst enemy. But that didn't mean that she had to abandon any trust in Karthak. The black haired boy walked over to the counter and leaned against it, watching over Rain, but in a brotherly sort of way.

Betty nodded, understanding there caution, then had Rain strip down to nothing, taking a flash light to every nook and cranny of her body, flashed the light in her mouth and eyes then checked her ears before repeating the process with Karthak while Rain dressed.

"Alright, looks like you two check out okay." But Rain knew that she was still going to keep a strong eye on the two of them.

Karthak opened the door after he dressed, and hopped down onto the soft sand, his boots sinking slightly under his weight. "Well, that wasn't nerve achingly uncomfortable." He finally said as they walked towards there truck.

"Yeah, well look on the bright side, at least we're getting mesh covering over our windows." Karth chuckled.

Carlos then threw some cloth at them. "I thought you two might like a change of clothes. They may help you in these harsh conditions." Rain and Karthak looked to one another and shrugged, both disappearing to different parts of the truck.

"Why are you suddenly being so conceded?" Karth asked, from the cab.

"Because I want it to be a surprise as to what you look like." She laughed.

Fifteen minuets later she was fully clad in a pair of cargo desert camouflage pants, combat boots, a black tank top and a combat green army jacket, complete with faded punk patches that sat on her shoulders, and tip-less gloves.

"Hurry up! I'm a girl man, and I dress faster than your pussy ass!"

"I'm commin, I'm commin." He stepped pit of the vehicle, revealing himself to her. A red bandanna was around his forehead, his hair falling into his green eyes. He wore desert attire, which consisted of a long jacket, brushing his ankles because of its length, calf-high boots, gloves like hers, a t-shirt and jeans.

Her jaw nearly hit the floor; it was quite a change from his normal attire of shorts and a shirt unless it was really hot then shirtless. "Is it really that hideous?"

"You actually make that outfit look good!"

Claire walked up, tossing a small object at Rain. "Here, use this CB radio to keep in contact with the group."

"Uh, the trucks already got a CB."

"Well in that case, our frequency is 16." She then turned on her heal, and shouted to the group. "Alright, pack it up lets move out!"

Rain hopped into the driver's seat, and fired up the truck and began to drive off before Karthak had even shut his door.

"In a hurry are we?" Otto's rugged voice sounded over the radio.

Rain pressed the side button and said innocently in reply. "You have no idea."

The blue Dodge fell in behind Claries yellow H2. In rain's rear view, she could see the 8x8 cargo carrier, KT - 3 news van, followed by the ambulance, then the school bus and finally the Enco Fuel Tanker.

Rain looked over at Karthak, and bit her tongue. It had only been fifteen minuets into there trip, and already he was asleep.

Chuckling, Rain returned her attention to the road, it was almost a relief to be apart of a convoy again.

But how long would it last?

**So, what do you think? PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!!! I love reviews of all sorts…I think this was better than the last chapter…**


	3. Chapter 3 The Only Way to Stay Alive

**Disclaimer:** So I got a contract with capcom today, I'm now a lead editor…SARCASAM!!!!! I don't really work for capcom, sp sadly I don't own any of these characters mentioned excepts for Karthak and Rain (No, its not the Rain from the movies, she's only biased after her attitude ;) )

**Chapter 3**

**The Only Way to Stay Alive**

Rain had long ago stopped paying any attention to the dead that lay in the road, but when she watched the head of one be splattered with one of the long, dangerous spikes on the wheels of Claries hummer, she thought it was kind of cool.

"So, is there any idea where we're headed?" Rain asked into the radio. "Or are we just plain lost?"

"There's a small town just ahead. We need to re-supply, and search for possible survivors." Carlos's honey voice came over the speaker.

Rain nodded. "How much further is this place?" She had been driving for nearly two hours, and was getting weary.

"It's right after this hill." Claire returned.

Sure enough, less than 10 minuets later, they passed the "welcome" sign. It wasn't legible past welcome, considering that nearly the entire bottom half was blown to bits. The trucked bounced slightly as the tire crunched a body of the undead beneath it.

Rain shivered as a cold chill crept up her legs and spine, as she gapped in awe. The town was beyond in shambles. Barricades of police cars and markers filled the area; bodies of the unfortunate lay at the foot of it, weapons littered the pavement as well as newspapers, other vehicles, and broken shop windows. There were many nearby fires that helped the city become illuminated in the distant glow.

The hummer pulled over, and the convoy followed, each person stepping out of there vehicles, guns at the ready, including Rain's automatic and Karthaks Desert Eagle. "Okay, you guy's have your teams already. Spread out, find anything of use-food gas ammo, you know the drill."

It wasn't all that long before the crowd of nearly forty split apart, carrying out there orders. "What do we do?" Karthak asked.

"You two can guard the convoy for now; we'll be back in a few." Claire took off, in pursuit of Carlos.

"Damn I hate baby sitting duty." Karth cursed under his breath, as he took a seat on the ground.

Rain was just about to join him when a loud clang snapped her attention frontward, her 9mm rose.

A boy skidded a few feet away from a metal trashcan that rolled into view. A zombie leaped into the air, about ready to strike its prey, when the retort of an automatic weapon echoed in her ears, followed by the zombie twitching and falling to the side of the boy who screamed in horror.

Suddenly a man appeared an **MP5K **in his hands, firing over his shoulder at the three zombies following close behind. He seemed to ignore everything around him except for the boy three feet away. His mighty arms scooped up the little boy, as if he were nothing more than a football, and continued to run.

Rain fired her gun, hitting a zombie right in-between the eyes. Karthak followed in suite. The man looked over at his assistants, and hightail it towards them. Out of nowhere a second appeared, and was about to sink its rotting teeth into his flesh. The man seemed to notice this, and dove to the ground, turning 180 degrees. His **MP5K** fired off, and the zombie fell limp, before he turned his weapon on the last one, killing that one too. He skidded to a stop at there feet, dust from the sand falling around them.

He got to his feet, where he stood about 5'10, and was fully clad in standard issue black military uniform. His jet black hair was short and spiked, kept well out of his bright green eyes.

Rain was stunned. She couldn't imagine anyone moving like that, especially considering she had never seen anyone move like that in her life.

He was loaded for bear too. He carried at least two guns that they could see, and a variety of different equipment they had no idea what it was or what it would even be used for.

He set the boy down, his sandy blond hair falling into his eyes. He was clothed in a baby blue tee-shirt, which was ripped in several different places, and was ten sizes too big for him. What they could see of his lower half, it consisted of a pair of ripped tan shorts with no shoes.

The tall man crouched to the boy, dusting him off a little.

"Are you okay?" The boy nodded and whimpered a little. "It's going to be okay, I promise." His voice was rough but kind.

Suddenly Claire appeared around the corner, Carlos following close behind. "What happened!?"

"They were ambushed by Zombies." Karth answered. "We helped them."

"You're a survivor?" Claire asked.

"I'm standing here aren't I?" He scoffed, Claire glared at him.

"You got a name?" Carlos asked stepping up.

"Alex."

"Well, you're more than welcome to join us if you like."

"I don't see why not, I'll be back in 15." The man shrugged before walking off, the young boy following.

"Geez, what's his problem?" Rain turned to see a girl standing by the hood of the Dodge. She had blond hair that was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and surprisingly was the only one to have make-up on. He legs were covered with a pair of jeans, with combat boots covering her feet. Upon her shoulders was a black Evanescence shirt. She was beautiful to Rain; her bright blue eyes pierced her very soul.

"Did you find anything?" Claire asked, turning around.

"Yeah, a bunch of canned food, we've already loaded most of it."

"Do you think there's anything in the gas pumps?"

"Chase is filling the tank as we speak."

"Where is everyone else?"

"Still searching, there's a clothing store not too far from here, which we've managed to load into the Hummer." Suddenly, the roar of a Honda CBR caught every one's attention. Alex came around the corner, at a fairly decent speed, and pulled up next to them, allowing the kid to hop off.

Rain took note of how scared the little boy looked, and could hardly fathom what it would be like to have zombies chasing you at that age. She crouched down so that she was at his height.

"Hello." He backed up against the bike, trying to hide himself behind Alex's leg. "My name is Rain, what's yours?"

"Theodore." He said in that childish accent all little ones have, slightly moving more into view.

"Theodore hu? That's a cool name. Can I call you Theo?"

He nodded his head. Rain glanced up at Alex, who had taken off the black attire, and wore a black pair of cargo pants, a white tee-shirt and a black leather jacket with the umbrella logo on the back, and tip less gloves. It seemed as though every one had a pair of those.

"Is there any clothes around here?" Alex asked.

Rain raised both eye brows, her voice dripping with venom. "Why do you want to know? You seemed to have found yourself a nice enough pair."

"I mean for _Theo_. He could use that and some food."

Rain turned to face Claire. "Yeah, um, Kmart," she gestured to the blond, the name catching Rain off guard. "Do you mind showing her were the food and clothes are?"

"Sure, follow me."

Rain held out her hand to the boy, and he reluctantly took it, after a slight push from Alex. She led the little boy, as she followed the girl they called Kmart.

"So, how old are you Theo?" the blond asked, falling in step on the other side of him.

He momentarily released Rains hand, to hold up seven, dirty, little fingers. Rain felt a stab of anguish, a child should never endure what he had in the past 20 minuets, but that was life now.

"Wow! That's a big age!" Rain said astoundingly. And was glad it brought a smile to his face. "Do you have a favorite color?"

He nodded. "Blue and red, just like my favorite superhero."

"Oh really, who's that?" Kmart replied.

"Spiderman."

As Kmart opened the Hummer door, both girls let out an "Ooo."

"Lets see if we can find some clothes like that in here, can you lift him up?"

Rain lifted the boy, and placed him by the box of clothes, and both girls helped him find a Spiderman shirt, an undershirt he refused t wear, some underwear and a pair of blue pants that were able to turn from pants to shorts.

"Okay, lets pack it up!" Came Claries voice.

Rain lead Theo over to Alex, who had started the Honda, and set him on the seat. "Wait, were are you going?" The little one asked as she walked away.

"I've got to go in my own car. But I promise we'll hang out more when we reach our campsite, okay?"

"Okay." Alex gave him a helmet that seemed to fit him just right.

"What channel is the convoy on?" Alex asked, as he began to set the radio that was built into the helmet.

"16."

Within 20 minutes, they convoy was rolling again. It began with Alex popping a wheelie, and ended in him doing a stoppie.

What few survivors there were learned to keep on the move. They avoided major cities, if anyone stopped anyplace too long; _they_ would be drawn to them, only a few at first, but then more and more a never ending army of undead. For those left, staying on the road seemed to be the only way to stay alive.


	4. Chapter 4 Fully Alive

**Chapter 4**

**Fully Alive**

The deep sand shifted and crunched soundlessly underneath her feet as Rain wandered around the convoy, taking in the sight of people setting up cooking fires, stretching, what have you.

Apparently they did this every night, parked all the vehicles in a circle, and kept everyone inside it. It reminded her of the way they used to circle wagons against Indian attacks in the Old West. Only the difference was that it was flesh eating, virus carrying Zombies instead of Indians.

She had visited Theo as promised, and he showed her a toy truck he had found in a nearby sand dune. He left fairly soon, as Alex called him over for dinner.

As she passed a generator, the blond called Kmart beckoned to her with a screwdriver. As the red haired girl approached she saw that she was puttering about it, making sure everything was in proper working order.

"I'm almost done here; I was thinking afterwards we could get some food together." She said, as she turned a screw.

"Sure."

After a few cuss words, clinks and turns, the duo was headed for the 8x8, where Otto was doling out the evening meal, it looked as though they were the last two to eat.

There were cans in the back that Rain could only assume were scavenged from all over, having labels fallen off.

"Well hello Kmart."

"Hey Otto, anything good?"

"Let's see." With a smile and a wink, he reached behind himself, grabbing a can at random, and then brought it up to his ear, shook it and announced confidently. "Peaches."

'_He _has_ to be lying out of his ass_.' She thought to herself.

"Thanks Otto." She then moved to the side of the 8x8 waiting for Rain.

"Ah, Rain is it?"

"Yeah surprised you remembered."

Smiling he replied. "I used to be a high school history teacher back in Florida." He grabbed a can and began to shake it, then tossed it to her. "Fruit salad."

Even though it was an odd way of telling the contents of something, Rain had to admit it was pretty cool of him to do that.

The two walked over to the Dodge, were Rain opened the door. "Lady's first."

"Haha, very funny." Kmart laughed as she climbed in, the red haired girl following, shutting the door behind her.

Pulling on the pop tab, Kmart asked. "So, your names Rain hu, what's the guy's name?"

"Karthak. You have a name before Kmart?"

"Never like it. When Claire and Carlos had found me locked behind the ammunition desk of a Kmart in Indiana, I refused to give them my name. The ones who gave it to me are dead anyway. So L.J started calling me Kmart and I just took to it." She smiled suddenly, innocently, sipping on the nectar that was contained inside. "I wonder how he does it."

"Who does what?" Rain asked.

"Otto," Kmart indicated to the gruff looking man whose appearance had reminded her so much of the T.V character Gregory House. "I wonder how he can tell you _exactly_ what's inside a label less can, just by shaking it."

"Wait, you mean he's not just pulling out of his ass?"

"Open your can and find out for yourself."

Rain pulled on the pop tab, and was stunned to see fruit salad. "I'll be damned. How the hell does he do that?"

The blond beside her chewed on a peach thoughtfully. "Maybe he's just so used to it; after all he's been doing this for a few years now."

"Wow. So, how old are you anyway?" Rain asked as she took a deep drink from the can.

"Seventeen."

Rain nearly choked on the juice. "You're shitting me right?"

"No, why?" She asked with her mouth full.

"I haven't run into another girl the same age as me in a _long _ass time."

"Wow, me neither."

They finished there dinner, then lay back listening to the laughter of the convoy, sharing a few laughs themselves.

"So, where are you from?" Kmart asked after a while.

"You've probably never heard of it. It's a small town called Cottonwood. It's in Arizona."

"That's cool. If you don't mind me by asking, how did you get here? By yourselves I mean."

Rain chuckled. "Well I had this crazy uncle who used to work for the Umbrella Corp. and went on and on about the Raccoon City incident. Well after a while Karthak and I began to joke around about it, making a Zombie plan.

"Well, it came true. We put our plan into affect, which was simply to go to my uncle's house, and follow him. He taught me everything I know about guns and survival, but he died a few years back, you know the deal."

"What did you do then?"

"Karthak and I wondered around, joined a few convoys here and there, most of which were wiped out within a few days. We've been on our own for nearly a year now."

The story was closely related to that of about half the convoy, as far as the traveling went.

"I've been with this convoy for about three years now, so I don't think you have to worry about it being ambushed anytime soon." Rain nodded; about the only action she was capable of making. '_What the hell is wrong with me_?' She silently asked herself. '_Why am I acting like such a shy idiot_?'

Rain looked over to Kmart, only to find those piercing blue eyes staring back at her. "You have really pretty eyes." The redhead complimented.

Blushing, she lowered her gaze. "Thanks." was all she could think to say.

Rain moved a little closer, lowering her voice. "Your welcome." Kmart placed her lips right against Rains.

The redhead sucked in an astonished breath, as she tasted a piece of heaven she never knew existed. Rain reached out toward her with both hands and entwined them in the blond locks, a small moan escaped Kmart's lips.

The blue door opened soundlessly, and a raven haired boy got an eye full. "Oh DAMN! I'm uh, sorry, yeah I'm gonna leave you two alone now." The two instantly flew away from one another, to see an astonished Karthak slam the door.

Rain didn't know what to say to that, as a laugh rose in her throat.

"What a way to ruin a moment." Kmart laughed. The silence seeped in slowly.

Kmart leaned over Rain, so that she was nearly on top of her. "Don'y worry, maybe next time you'll get lucky." Then the door opened, and she slid over Rain, and landed soundlessly in the sand shutting the door back.

Rain let out a sigh of disappointment, whispering. "Fucking Karthak."

**So, what did you think? I'm not sure how I feel about my writing in this fanfiction, but we'll see how it goes. Please hit the review button, it only takes ten seconds to write one, and the feeling I get from reading them will last for weeks!**


	5. Chapter 5 Discoveries

**Chapter 5**

**Discoveries**

The dust kicked up behind the hummer as Kmart looked through the rearview mirror at the blue Pickup truck behind them. She was just able to see the red hair that shimmered behind the glass.

"You wanna tell me what's bothering you?" Claire asked, startling the blond from her thoughts.

"It's nothing."

"A whole lot of nothing seems like a whole lot of something." The redhead that sat in the driver's seat chuckled. "Is it the new kids?"

"It kinda has something to do with them, well mainly one." She said turning to face her.

"What did you do?" Claire said, becoming a little more on edge.

Sex wasn't a big deal now a days, it was a _huge_ deal. This wasn't the kind of condition you wanted to have babies in. Thankfully none of them where infected with the virus, but most of them were lucky to make it even a day with out dieing, and usually the mother was soon to follow after from something unknown.

That's why Claire discouraged underage sex, now more than ever.

"I'd rather not say."

"Fair enough." Swallowing herd, she gripped the steering wheel, silence falling over the cab. "You didn't have sex did you?"

"NO! gosh, I make out with Rain and you automatically assume sex!" Kmart suddenly covered her mouth, and slumped back in her seat.

"Wait a minuet, you what?" Claire swerved momentarily, stunned by the sudden news.

"_Claire, you guy's okay?_" Otto's concerned voice sounded over the radio.

Kmart gripped Claries wrist as she reached for the walky-talky. "Please don't tell them.

Only when she nodded did the blond let go. "Yeah, I'm fine, just though I saw something in the road, but it was nothing."

"_Since when to you swerve out of the way of something?_" Mikey's Australian accent smiled.

"Since you became involved in my business."

Nothing else came over the small speaker, as Claire turned to the blond next to her. Shame glittering in the eyes and was written on the face of 17 year old Kmart.

"Why didn't you tell me you were attracted to girls?"

Kmart shrugged. "I thought you would hate me."

"My best friend, and so called 'sister' was a lesbian." Claire laughed. "And I don't have to worry about you getting pregnant. Just promise me you won't get in too deep."

"Done."

Claire looked up at the sun visor ad wondered yet again what had happened to Chris.

But as always, she shook her head and told her to stop thinking about it. There was no way of knowing and there really wasn't any sense in beating herself up over it. Depressed, Claire reached for her pack of cigarettes.

The pack collapsed in her grip, with only the sound of empty air.

"Dammit." She turned to Kmart. "Have you been smoking my cigarettes?"

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't smoke?"

"Well, don't start." Crumpling the package into a ball of paper, she grabbed the Walky-Talky.

"Carlos, this is Claire-got any smokes?"

Carlos stated in his calming, reassurance voice, "_I'm out._"

However, the redhead wasn't having any of that. "I'm supposed to believe that?"

"_Would I lie to you Claire?_"

No, he wouldn't. Carlos was honest to a fault, which was why nobody in the convoy could understand how he could have ever worked for a lying, deceiving company that went by the name of the Umbrella Corporation.

Claire sighed. "L.J?"

"_Claire Redfield._" L.J said in his usual boisterous tone from behind the Enco Tanker. "_How can I help you?_"

"Got a smoke?"

"_We talkin' tobacco or alternate?_"

"Regular." Getting high sounded good, but not while she was behind the wheel.

"_No can do._" L.J said quickly.

Claire frowned. "How about alternate?"

"_Sorry to say, we outta that too._"

"_You gotta be shittin me! Otto?_" Came Betty's honey colored voice.

"_Sorry campers. Smoked the last of it back in Salt Lake._"

"_Damn._" Betty murmured. "_What about you new comers? Got any?_"

"_Sorry don't smoke._" Rain's voice made Kmart jump, but was thankful Claire didn't see it.

"_I've got one left, and I plan of smokin it._" Alex stated. Surprisingly there wasn't any wind that could be heard over the com.

Claire threw the useless piece of crumpled packet out the window, as L.J said in a portentous voice. "_Yeah people, it really _is_ the end of the world._"

Theo sat by Alex, his mentor, as he ate the dinner that consisted of peanut butter and pickles, his only regret was that there wasn't any bread, because peanut butter between two slices of dill, wasn't working out. The little blond looked up from his messy meal to see that Kmart was hunched over the inside of the hummer tinkering away at it.

Theodore looked up at Alex who was picking his way through a can of beans with his fork. "I'm gonna go see Kmart, I'll be back in a bit." He said, picking up the two containers and clumsily made his way towards the teen.

"Kmart!" the blond looked up, and couldn't help but smile at the sight coming at her. Little Theo was walking her way, a jar of peanut butter and pickles on a paper plate that was curved from all the added weight.

"Whatcha doin Theo?" she asked as he set his meal down next to her.

"You looked lonely, so I thought I'd give you some company."

Kmart smiled at the innocence of him. "Thanks." She then turned back towards the piece of equipment.

"What wrong with it?"

"I don't know. I think it's something that has to do with the fan."

"Let me see, may be I can help." Shrugging, figuring that she had nothing to lose, she lifted the little boy up and he looked inside. He suddenly started to fish through the various parts and tool that was inside the tool box she had set up, and he began tinkering away at it. The intelligence of the little boy was amazing; he worked on the jeep with the skill of a man who had been around cars for fifty years or more.

"If you try turning it over, it should start better now, as well as stop making that rattling noise when you drive."

Stunned, Kmart placed the boy back down onto the sandy floor, and jumped into the cab of the truck. '_God Kmart, you're crazy for even _thinking _that this had fixed the Hummer_.' She thought as she turned the key over, and almost instantly, it started up as faster than it had ever since they got it.

"Well I'll be damned; he did know what he was doing." She said out loud, before shutting the engine off, hopping out, before stepping towards Theo. "How did you do that?"

The young boy shrugged as he bit into his peanut buttered pickle. Kmart somehow just couldn't wrap her mind around his inelegance. It was as if an adult, with the innocence of a small child were trapped inside the little body.

"Do you want some?" Theodore offered, holding out a pickle.

She took it smiling. "Thank you, how did you know these are my favorite?"

"Really? They are my favorite too!"

"_Theodore!_"

"Sounds like you're dad's calling for you."

The looked up at her, his blue eyes shimmering and uttered four words, before running off. "He's not my daddy."

That didn't surprise her much, it wasn't uncommon for kids to be orphaned nowadays, but despite the hard ass appearance Alex had led up, he seemed like a bit of a softie towards little Theo.


End file.
